1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an optical disk drive, and in particular, to a locking member that is effective in resisting impact or shock that may be experienced by the optical disk drive.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Optical disk drives are becoming more popular in the market, having been considered standard equipment on personal computer for several years. Recently, slim-type optical disk drives, which can be used to conveniently load and unload optical disks, are being shipped with portable computers such as notebooks. In an attempt to reduce the cost and adapt to the limited space constraint within notebooks, the conventional motor for disk loading and unloading operations has been eliminated. FIGS. 1–4 illustrate a conventional disk drive and its loading and unloading device. The conventional disk drive has a chassis 1, a disk tray 2, a playback unit 3, a locking mechanism 4, and a locking member 5. The disk tray 2 and the playback unit 3 are positioned inside the chassis 1, and the playback unit 3 is positioned above the disk tray 2. When the tray 2 is ejected along the direction of arrow A as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the user can place an optical disk on the playback unit 3 and then push the disk tray 2 back into the chassis 1 along the reverse of the direction of arrow A.
Referring to FIG. 2, the conventional locking mechanism 4 is positioned on the disk tray 2 and inside the chassis 1 and functions to prevent the disk tray 2 from being inadvertently ejected when the optical disk drive is in use. The locking member 5 is secured to the chassis 1 by riveting and is positioned near a front panel 10 of the disk tray 2 as shown in FIG. 1. When the optical disk drive is being transported from one location to another, shock and other impact are inevitable. In this regard, if the shock or impact is applied along the direction of arrow A in FIGS. 1 and 2, the energy will be absorbed by the locking member 5. As shown in FIG. 3, if the optical disk drive is subjected to large shock or impact along the direction of arrow A, the locking mechanism 4 will supply a large bending moment and shear force to the locking member 5. Referring to FIG. 4, the connection between the locking member 5 and the chassis 1 is indicated by the arrow C. If the energy of the shock is too large, the locking member 5 will fracture or fail. Once the locking member 5 is bent or broken, the disk tray 2 cannot be locked inside the chassis 1, thereby rendering the optical disk drive unusable.
Thus, there is a need to develop an optical disk drive locking member that is small in size and capable of withstanding high impact without breakage.